Bhallos !! From Jordan

[Zeptacular]

Hi everyone

 

I've been exercising (specifically long distance running) with an aim to try to reduce my weight for a few months now, and as I've come to learn of recently I have been pretty much undermining that hard work by my love of takeaway pizza and otherwise unhealthy food lol. Whilst I have been able to push my self to a happy 10k in an hour without stopping, I've been wanting to find a way to conquer bad lifestyle choices for that same few months, and have come across some great online resources, and this site is definitely one of them!!

 

Loving the site and the theme, especially the RPG side of things, wicked idea to make healthy living and exercise fun  Since discovering the concept of compound body exercises I was amazed when I tried the deadlift the first time the other day, and how much of a great buzz it gave me for the rest of the day!! I definitely feel like I'm going down the path of the warrior class ;-)

 

I guess my battle plans are to drop my body fat to 10% (and make damn sure I eat accordingly to achieve this) and to essentially become as strong as I can, and to help others around me with that strength. Since seeing how much body strength contributes so much to mental and emotional strength (something which I have struggled with in the past) - my ultimate aim is to become as strong as I can, and to help and encourage those around and close to me with their own struggles

 

Jordan

[SevenofSeven]

Very cool on the running! 

 

Welcome and good luck with your journey.

[Igaduma]

Exercise is an ineffective way of losing weight.  Depending on the kind of excercise, you will gain weight in stead (if you build muscle, you add weight).

Exercise only accounts for a (usually disappointingly small) part of your daily energy consumption.  Whatever you shove into your mouth however, accounts for all the energy you take in.  So your mouth is the best place to regulate your weight.  The principle is simple enough: eat less than you spend and you'll lose weight, eat more than you spend and you'll gain weight.

How to do that in practice might be trickier   There are some good articles on here than can serve as a guide.

 

That doesn't mean exercise is useless of course.  There are plenty of benefits.  Weight loss just isn't one of them.

 

Congrats on the 10k.  I'm working on 5k.  I should reach that for the first time in two weeks.  And then it's time for a new goal.

 

Write out what you want to achieve and why.  Don't just think about it, write it out.  That forces you to really think it through.  If you just "think" about stuff, often you'll find you don't think quite as hard as you think

 

Once you know where you're going, divide it in small chunks.  Really specific stuff.  "Get healthy" might sound great but it doesn't mean anything.  Healthying isn't a verb.  Set goals like "I will eat only one pizza a week for 3 weeks".  It's verifiable: 1 is good, 2 is bad.  It has a set timeframe.  That means there's a deadline, which adds some pressure.  There's only a clear end, a moment at which you can claim victory.  It's small and easy.  If your small goals sound like they're easy, you picked a good one. 

Long term, big goals don't work well as far as motivation goes.  Small victories work far better.  So have your long term goals; you need to know where you're going with this but divide it in small "quests" that work up to the overall goal.  

[Guzzi]

Welcome!  

 

it sounds like you will fit in well with the community here, and kudos on the 10k! I don't run, but I admire those that do. For me running is a chore, I managed to do a 5k for charity once but I honestly can't say I enjoyed it. 

 

You said youre leaning towards the Warriors, but have you considered the Rangers? Your love of running and weights (yaaaaay for deadlifts!) would make you an ideal Ranger candidate too. 

 

You've hit the nail on the head when you said about your diet being to blame. There's also the mindset of "I did so much exercise, I deserve this *inset comfort food here* after that". As Iggy said, the amount we burn off with exercise is usually much smaller than we think, and what we eat is usually much more than we think. Stupid brains! 

 

But once you recognise this, you can change it. Mucho respect that you want to help others around you to live healthier lives too. One warning though, be prepared for the negative comments. Sometimes it's like people resent you for making healthier choices, as if your decision to eat better is some kind of judgment on them for their choices. 

 

Anyway, have you found your way around the forum ok? There's a new 4 Week Challenge starting on the 17th if you want to join in?

 

I like the Challenges because it makes you an active participant in the forum. You meet other members, form friendships and get some accountability. They're also a really good tool to help you reach your long term goals by breaking them down into smaller, short term goals (like Iggy said above) which I think is important in keeping you motivated.

 

If there's anything you want to know more about then just ask.

 

Ps. Sorry about the wonky fonts. The site hates my phone. It does random things and I can't fix them. *sigh* 

[Zeptacular]

Thanks guys, yeah that's precisely the trap I kept falling into, thinking I deserved that 1500 calorie pizza because I managed to get to 6.5 km etc etc (of course I wasn't thinking in terms of calories back then!!) but since then I've realised where I was going wrong I've changed my approach, got some good ideas for food on this site (minced beef omelettes!!!) and where I'm measuring what calories I eat, I'm feeling much more confident in getting to where I want to be in terms of fat loss. I'll look into breaking my goal  down into smaller and more specific chunks as well

 

I've been a little torn between the warrior and ranger to be honest, where I am shifting my focus towards strength training it has seemed more natural to head towards that direction, but then I can't see myself giving up running either.

What is the score with the 4 week challenge Guzzi, from what I've read it seems to be something which each person sets for themselves?

[Guzzi]

Yeah, it's up to you to set your own goals. Here is Spezzy's post explaining the "rules" but at the end of the day, it's your challenge so you can adapt it to suit yourself.

 

You could use the challenge to cement some of your recent changes and make them into habits. Or you could work on your running/lifting goals. 

 

The key is to make small changes and to make them specific and measureable. I like to have a grading system for each day rather than a pass/fail, and at the end of the week you can say "I did that on X number of days". If that makes sense. That way if you slip up one day, you just get back on track the next day.